As an elementary public school teacher having taught at both affluent public schools and Title 1 schools, perhaps I can offer perspective from the front lines. The majority of my colleagues do not like the SOLs. We do not teach to the SOLs, but we do teach the topics covered on the SOLs. The SOLs are a measure for how the schools, teachers, students, community are doing as a whole. Are they relevant? Not for every student. SOLs scores are taken into consideration when discussing retention or promotion. I heard the same complaints that are posted in this forum from the parents at the affluent public school where I taught. While I don't have a concrete solution as I am not an expert in this area, I do know that there are probably other options for testing. The tests are really quite biased towards the middle/upper class and don't always accurately gauge students' capabilities. I do think that telling your children the tests are a waste of time, talking of walk outs, etc, sets a scary precedent for your children thinking they are entitled and better than others, but definitely show democracy, civil rights, etc. I'm a strong proponent of helping students work on self esteem, not an academic caste system. Private school is always an option because they are not dependent on state and federal funding. These are just thoughts from a teacher who has experienced teaching students who will easily score a 600 and students who will struggle to meet the cut-off.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Scores have been improving for most children in the US. Which is why we do not need teachers to teach to these SOL's as much anymore. They should be assessment tests, nothing more.

Oh, are you counting the schools which change the grades to passing ones, so they can get MONEY?

This is the best response you can come up with? It's so lame.